When the Milesians or Gaels arrived in Ireland they took up a dispute with the Tuatha Dé Danann, children of the Goddess Danu.

The Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground and became known as the fairy people, sidhe, or the wee folk.

The wee folk had many entrances to the otherworld such as in burial mounds, underwater and even at the base of Fairy trees.

As you can imagine these gateways are extremely important for the movement of the wee folk so they are heavily protected by magic.

You wouldn’t be considered mad if you just so happened to spot a Pooka or Leprechaun at a Fairy tree.

Superstitions surrounding Fairy trees

With Fairy trees being regarded as sacred sites for the wee folk there are many superstitions that surround them and as you’ve probably guessed involve magic and bad luck.

Some believe if you damage or cut down one of these trees you’ll be faced with a life of bad luck. As you can imagine people are very wary of touching one.

It’s certainly uncommon for farmers to work around these trees even if it does mean they can’t grow crops where the tree stands.

When traveling through Ireland you’ll often see a perfectly cultivated field with a Fairy tree standing in the center and untouched, evidence of a farmer unwilling to risk his luck.

There are also many stories around Ireland of roadworks being delayed simply because a Fairy tree would be standing its path, workers would refuse to touch the tree. In most occasions, roads have been re-routed to bypass the tree.

There are stories of the famous car manufacturer DeLorean chopped down a fairy tree in order to build their factory in Dunmurry on the outskirts of Belfast. It’s believed DeLorean failed due to bad luck from chopping down the tree.

If ever come across a fairy tree in Ireland our advice is to not go near it, any damage to the tree could bring unwanted bad luck.